Always Check Reords for Yourself

Today I have an example of why you should ALWAYS (where possible) check originals for yourself!

I am updating the WikiTree profile of Richard Brooks (Larsom), a man born on Norfolk Island Penal Colony in 1791. The biography and page contained many errors, and even though I was only querying his birthplace (as part of WikiTree’s Australia Project “clean up Australia” task for Feb), I couldn’t ignore all the glaring mistakes. So I’ve taken him under my wing, and I’m fixing things up — with the permission of his profile manager.

Some lovely person has written up a short biography about Richard and uploaded it to Ancestry; it’s been quite useful to me for following trails and using as a rough timeline guide, BUT I’ve come across a small error, and it’s a good teaching moment for beginners.

It states that Richard was in Tasmania by 1813 and is a witness for a marriage that year. I went to the Tasmanian Archives and Ancestry to double-check the dates and confirm that he is definitely listed as the witness.

But as you can see, the marriage of Daniel and Elizabeth is in 1812, and so is Richards' own marriage… Now I know it might seem a little pedantic… It’s only a year. But this small time error could lead some amateur genealogists who aren’t double-checking the originals and relying on this biography to discount any records for a Richard Larsom before 1813.

Anyway, that’s my tip for the day with an example. I try to keep an eye out for these little slip-ups as I think they are a great learning opportunity for newbies to genealogy.